A Curious Case of Misanthropy
by Angel Descendant
Summary: Hibari's decision to quit the Mafia and the consequences he'll face afterwards. Gen, Hibari-centric, oneshot. 15YL.


**Re-edited 5/6/14. Beware of possible OOC-ness in the guise of 'character growth.'**

* * *

**A Condition of Misanthropy**

_aka the time Hibari decides he had enough_

**/18/**

Hibari Kyouya had, in the first place, never pledged alliance to the Mafia since the day in Namimori when the baby recruited him. It was already programmed up to the code of his DNA to never swear loyalty to anyone. It didn't struck him much when he decided, one cold wintry night in Biarritz, France during a reconnaissance with an allied family, to take out his jetski from Sawada Tsunayoshi's yacht and prepare for lift-off.

And unexpectedly, someone was watching him from the deck.

"The day has come then, kufu~" Mukuro said rather silkily from behind. Hibari doesn't even turn as he raises the tonfa from his left. "The cloud finally decides to break free from the sky?"'

Hibari says nothing. Mukuro just leans from one of the handlebars and eyes him rather expectantly.

"You know the punishment for deserting as a guardian of the Vongola, don't you?" his tone remains playful. Hibari now releases his tonfa to free his hand. He takes off the Vongola Cloud ring and indifferently throws it to Mukuro, who deftly catches it.

"Tell Sawada Tsunayoshi I didn't join the Vongola due to feelings of attachment," he said brusquely.

Mukuro merely tilts his head to look at the sky. There was no moon in sight. He puts the ring now in his pocket and pats it.

"You should be ecstatic now then, kufu. We'll truly be seeing each other as enemies the next time we meet."

"Can I ask you one final question?" he says, almost like an epithet.

"Oya, what does the great Hibari Kyoya want to ask about the little old me?"

"If you hated the Mafia so much, why did you remain with Sawada Tsunayoshi for the past fifteen years?"

"Nothing has changed, kufu~ I intend to possess his body. Alas, I've been having too much fun killing more Mafia men to-"

"Even up to now, you're still a failure as a liar."

It was the first time Mukuro was struck dumb by Hibari, who rode off forward to who-knows-where, probably to Spain since it wasn't far off and not yet traversed by the Vongola.

He looks at the ring the ex-guardian left him and threw it up in the air. It's a shame the stars didn't shine as bright as the moon, else it would be a really cool sight to see it sparkle oh-so-dramatically mid-fall.

He then thinks nothing of it as he returns back to his quarters. It was 2 AM and he needed to sleep.

**/18/**

The first person Tsuna sent was Yamamoto after five days. Hibari was in a ship ironically named_ SS Alondra_ (the Spanish equivalent for skylark) that was headed to America. Tsuna intended to make Hibari return in the most peaceful way as possible and Yamamoto seemed the only man confident and qualified enough to take the job.

Hibari was expecting this and lit his tonfa with purple flames as Yamamoto approached. It was a cloudy day and rain was beginning to fall. Most of the people were warned to go inside as because a storm was brewing just a couple of yards away.

His two tonfas were ablaze in purple.

"I do not want to return," he said curtly as he swipes the air in a threatening manner. "Words cannot sway me, Yamamoto Takeshi."

"Even if it's from me?" the baby suddenly walks from behind Yamamoto, his gun readily aimed at his head.

The thunder crackled and coughed, as if taunting Hibari. His eyes narrowed further in anger.

"I'm sorry Hibari but you know the rules. Tsuna's a naïve idiot who still clings on to this family bullshit to deceive himself from the harsh reality of being a Boss. There are rules y'know." He points his gun with cold indifference at Hibari.

"Is there really no other way?" Yamamoto's voice appeared more a small, childish plea compared to Reborn's.

"The only penalty for desertion is death," Reborn said. He pulls the trigger, but Hibari casually dodges it.

Hibari smirks. "You missed."

"Don't get cocky now. I was just teasing," Reborn grins as he jumps to throw more shots. "Yamamoto, surround him from behind. Don't let him jump in the water else-" he pulls the trigger again.

"Can't Hibari just-" Yamamoto pleads as he runs to circle Hibari, unsheathing his sword.

"You don't deserve to be in the Mafia if you're soft-hearted!" Reborn snaps as the thunder got louder and the ship rocked more violently. Hibari was now eyeing the two of them carefully as his flames got bigger. "Rules are rules."

"All the more reason for me to deny returning," Hibari's smile just got wider. Yamamoto shakes his head almost to wave off the traces of sympathy.

And lightning lit up the sky the same time Yamamoto charged. Hibari merely parried them all as a bullet passed his left shoulder. Another one whizzes past his left ear and another got him by his right leg. It was a good thing he ducked before another one passed through where his head was.

By then Hibari cursed under his breath. The baby was too good.

"Hibari, please come with us. Tsuna would be more than willing to forgive you," Yamamoto's pleas reminded him of a bleating sheep.

"I'm afraid it wouldn't be that simple Yamamoto Takeshi," he says as his tonfa finally manages to land on his sword arm, making him let go of his katana and break a bone too boot. Yamamoto winces in pain. "But-" he dodges another bullet as his tonfa lands gently on his neck. "I'm willing to go on this goose chase with you again. Only next time, I won't be as compassionate."

Only by then Yamamoto realized Hibari was dictating the fight all along. They were almost at the edge of the ship. Hibari merely grins as he jumps and bends his head down to the torrential downpour of waves below.

Yamamoto was too late to shout his name.

**/18/**

Ryohei was the next to encounter Hibari a month later in New York. It was in the Bronx, along one of the dark alleys when he spots Hibari walking nonchalantly with a bag of groceries in hand. Hibari stopped when he was three feet away.

"I'm not coming with you," he said with dignified finality.

"I'll fight you then."

Hibari sighed. He was still as big an idiot as he was 16 years ago since both of them made that oath.

"I'll only break your spirit, Ryohei Sasagawa."

"I don't care anymore as long as you come to your senses."

"You should honestly listen to yourself, you pompous fool," he said as he carefully stowed the paper bag to the side. He turns around. No one seems to be in sight. "In that case then, I'll just bite you to death." He throws his tonfas aside and raises his fists. Ryohei gapes in shock.

"H-Hibari-"

"I'm way behind schedule so let's end this quickly," he said. Ryohei removes his coat and also readies his padded fists. He smiles.

Amidst the shadows of the decrepit buildings, Hibari notices the cloudless sky.

"It's a good day to die," Ryohei says and gives the first blow.

**/18/**

It still puzzles Hibari to no end as he lies down in the roof of his apartment to see the stars. The waxing of the moon had begun. He was fortunate enough that his neighbour next door, a doctor, was still there the time he limped back to his apartment. His face was all blue due to the difficulty breathing no thanks to expertly-pinpointed blows from the Sun Guardian.

It perplexed him that, he still let him live and just knocked him unconscious in their fistfight. He left him to where he put his bag of groceries. He stares at him one last time before once again, losing interest and leaving. He could still feel the pain in his jaw. Apparently, that asshole nearly broke it.

And still he let him survive and tell Tsuna that Hibari was here. He blinks. This was one of the reasons why he despised the Vongola to the point of leaving.

Tsuna's idealistic message about life and compassion was getting to him.

**/18/**

He was in a plane en route to China when Mukuro was there along with passengers who were actually Varia assassins in disguise.

"Kufufu~ And so we meet again," he says almost like that of a lover. Hibari merely stands up to face him, with the guns of the others all pointed to his chest.

"Fine," he sighs and uses five rings to burn the walls of the plane and making it explode from the inside, sending some of the assassins sprawling to their deaths because of his daring. Some though were sensible enough to bring those flame boots with them. Including Mukuro.

Hibari takes three more rings from his pocket. He burns his coat away because the heat was searing.

"Oya, oya that was a fine coat. Wasn't it a gift from Chrome? A peace offering after she broke it off with you right?"

"All the better. No pasts, no attachment," he says. The wind howled wildly as cloud flames clashed against firepower and Hibari was successful in hitting their flame boots. Only Mukuro was left, who folded his arms the whole time Hibari seemingly brought his comrades to their deaths.

"Surprisingly, you spared the lives of the Rain and Sun Guardians' while you killed off the Vongola lackeys. I find it quite unfair. I thought you were egalitarian when it comes to dishing heavy punishment."

Hibari stood stoically as he put three more rings to his right fingers.

"Fufu~ This will be interesting. I wonder if Tsunayoshi Sawada would be ok if your head was the only intact thing I can give him." His trident glowed and sent out a roaring blaze of indigo. From an idiot's perspective in the ground below, he might've thought he witnessed a miracle.

"Do you think I will spare the life of the man who gave me my first loss?" Hibari uttered as his flames ascended to the same level as his adversary's. "This time I'll truly bite you to death."

"Oya, shall we see then?" said Mukuro who was smiling maniacally as he unleashed a 500-foot skyscraper from the tips of his trident.

**/18/**

"Can you speak?" asked Tsuna to a bed-ridden Mukuro. He nods as he looks at his entire body, whose bones weren't mended after falling from a week ago. "It was a good thing it was a fair distance from the canopy. Otherwise you would have-"

"He calculated it, that damn bastard," Mukuro hissed. "He made sure the worst of my fall was broken bones."

"Ryohei's working on it. Sorry about that," Tsuna smiled. "Besides, we got him. I'll personally come and finish the job. Dino's already made his way to China."

"Kufu~ Can you really kill Hibari Kyouya?" Mukuro says half-mockingly.

"I wish I knew a reason why he decided to leave," Tsuna said with a note of melancholy.

"You have the power to alter the rules even if they are set in stone, o dear leader."

Tsuna smiled. "You already know it's more complicated than that. I have to set an example otherwise the Mafia will be thrown into chaos because of a simple irrational act."

"We humans tend to complicate our lives despite how clear the answer is in front of us."

His leader looks at the window. Just outside the cottage where Mukuro rested he saw Gokudera playing with his son, a child of four along with a kin of Yamamoto's.

"It's one of the perks of being an adult," Tsuna smiled. "At the end of the day, for one's happiness, someone's bound to get hurt. Reborn said to not let emotions cloud my judgement."

Mukuro merely stared at him before closing his mismatched eyes.

"I like that smile."

"Eh-?"

"Compared to 15 years ago, it has more depth."

**/18/**

Dino looked at him with soft and sad eyes. His whip had already knocked Hibari's tonfa a few feet away and he had already confiscated the rest of his rings. The only thing left to do was wait for Tsuna's arrival.

"It's over," he said to Hibari, who tries still to break free from his straitjacket. He was pinned underhandedly to a stone chair Dino specifically encrusted with Thunder flames. From the periphery it was an idyllic scenery by the sea. He had a good view of the sunrise. There was a gently wind that sung along with the reeds.

"I thought the next one to come would be Gokudera Hayato."

"Tsuna's getting impatient from your charade," Dino replied to his implied question. "That's why I'm the one who came to capture you."

Hibari looked behind to his hut by the left. A dark haired woman and her child who looked barely two years old were huddled in the corner, shaking violently as Dino's men stood guard.

"From a palazzo down to a wooden hut. Have you really decided to live a monk?" Dino sighed.

"That's politically incorrect, you clumsy buffoon," Hibari said quietly. Dino merely ruffles his hair and laughs.

"I'll let it slide, one last time. You'll be dead in thirty minutes anyway," he waves off Hibari's insult. "Romario, please give the child and mother some blankets and hot soup." He then turns to his captive. "Satisfied, Kyouya?"

Hibari says nothing as he stares at the sea. The purples and pinks were now apparent.

"Why did you not kill the three people Tsuna sent you?" Dino asked. Hibari ignores him. He could see the first few rays of the sun now. Slowly they were being bathed in rippling golden light.

"You've changed to the extent of losing interest in killing… that's a good thing Hibari. It's just a shame you left the Vongola when you've already grown into such a man."

Hibari remained fixated at the sunrise. Dino's eyes planted themselves to the young woman, whose hair reached to her legs and her son, who was babbling incessantly as she cradled him. She couldn't look at Hibari.

"Who's she?" he pried, standing up. He then paced to Hibari's left. No answer came.

"Is she the reason why you left?"

Hibari yawned. "This bores me. Just execute me already."

Dino said nothing as she examined the woman closely. He wanted to say something vulgar or something that would make Hibari talk, but his conscience spoke otherwise.

"You are a far braver man than I thought," Dino remarked as he patted Hibari's head.

"I'm not your pupil anymore."

"You will always be," he grins. "At least now you're not trying to bite my hand off. Time sure flies doesn't it?"

"Let them go," Hibari says finally. "Before the Vongola arrives."

Dino confirmed his thoughts and raised his hand. His guards surrounding the two moved sideways to their left. Dino walks up to them and smiles.

"_You're free,"_ He says in Chinese. He then motions his men to raise their rifles and point them at the pair. All the while Hibari stared at the sunrise as the gunshots split across the dawn.

Somehow the orange turned a shade darker in his eyes. Just in time after the gunsmoke dissipated, he heard the rumble of a van. He then heard the unmistakable voice of his former boss and his sudden silence afterwards. The owners of the other footsteps stood in their tracks too.

"Did I anger you?" Dino murmurs as he motions his men to move him forward to face Tsuna.

"Why should I be angry about something I cannot have?" he states coldly as he shakes the other guards and looks at Tsuna eye-to-eye. Just 15 years ago this man was one head shorter than him.

"Release him," Tsuna orders firmly. Instantly, Hibari's straitjacket burst into flames and smoulders away. His ragged clothes remain unharmed.

Hibari comes and promptly punches Tsuna on the head. He, with calm and cold precision, then attempts to punch and kick his Boss until he's sprawled on the ground. Still, Tsuna maintained his composure and neither moved his hands nor feet to shield himself.

It still remains one big anomaly to Hibari. None of Dino's men nor Tsuna's guardians pointed a gun at the Cloud Guardian as he did his way with his former boss.

It bored him after ten minutes. He found no point in beating up a herbivore who didn't fight back.

Gokudera and Yamamoto were the ones who aided Tsuna to stand. Ryohei remained silent with his hands behind his back as he tries looking away from the bodies hastily covered by a now blood-stained blanket.

"What will your decision be now?" said Tsuna as Hibari's attention spun to the sun again.

"To come back," said Hibari.

"Thank you," was Tsuna's reply as he orders Ryohei to heal Hibari's bruises. He then slowly limps back to the car, but not before Hibari runs to him.

"Why was that your answer?" he asked. Tsuna's smile bubbled in blood as he wearily limps to the stone chair.

"It's because you decided to lash your anger at me instead of Dino-san. I deserve the blame."

"I knew this was bound to happen. I can never truly escape the Mafia."

"And yet you still gambled for it?" Tsuna tittered. "To the point of having a family of your own."

"I regret it. In the end it was all meaningless," he said in quiet accusation. "It didn't last."

The sun was now up. By their backs, Dino and his men were already digging a grave by the site and taking apart the house.

"It didn't last," Hibari repeated before he burst out laughing, discarding the grief that he programmed his body to do back when he realized loneliness was inevitable.

"I'm sorry," Tsuna murmured. "For making you feel caged within the family's walls."

"Freedom is a fleeting thing, Sawada Tsunayoshi," he said. "But if only one person is free… it does get lonely."

He looked at the back. It was an instant when Tsuna and the others- his fellow Guardians and Dino were now encircling him and wrapping their arms around him.

What surprised him more was he didn't push them away. He smiled.

They were crying for him, apologizing, praying, grieving for his tragedy.

It was their tragedy too, in the end. He knew that.

He closed his eyes. The sun was finally a pale yellow in the sky.

It was a dichotomy he could never change. He was born to die alone.

And he now knows, with these 16 hands encircling him, he's not the only one who wishes to change it. This makes him smile after a long while.


End file.
